Good news: Howard Dean not ruling out a presidential run

posted at 12:31 pm on June 21, 2013 by Mary Katharine Ham

Howard Dean, the former Vermont governor who electrified anti-war liberals during the 2004 presidential race, said Thursday he would consider another run for the White House – a statement that will surely be met with mixed reaction in the Democratic Party.

Dean, whose underdog presidential campaign officially launched 10 years ago this weekend, said he has “mixed feelings” about running for office again but added he would consider another bid for the Democratic presidential nomination if he doesn’t think the other candidates are adequately addressing progressive issues that are dear to his heart.

“I am not driven by my own ambition,” Dean told CNN in an interview at the Netroots Nation conference, an annual gathering of left-leaning political activists. “What I am driven by is pushing the country in a direction that it desperately needs to be pushed; pushing other politicians who aren’t quite as frank as I am who need to be more candid with the American people about what needs to happen. I am not trying to hedge, it’s a hard job running. It’s really tough. I am doing a lot of things I really enjoy. But you should never say never in this business.”

Dean has always been popular with activist liberals in no small part because of his fightin’-Dem posture and frankness in communicating liberal ideas that are outside the mainstream of the American electorate. Both can be off-putting to voters, but would no doubt necessitate Hilary Clinton’s aggressive pandering to liberal activists, which didn’t work so well last time (and this time she won’t have Rush Limbaugh GOTVing for her!). Get on it, Howie! On the other hand, Dean’s enthusiasm sometimes translates into taking chances on strategies other establishment types won’t touch, and they’ve been known to work— please see his young tech team, which later birthed Obama’s online juggernaut, and the 50-state strategy, ridiculed at first but now touted as a model by some.

I do appreciate his insistence that Hillary not “get a pass.” She shouldn’t and it’d be unfortunate if she did while our side is having another food fight.

Activists likely won’t be happy with either Howard Dean or Hillary Clinton where the NSA and PRISM are concerned. Here was Howard Dean’s statement at Netroots Nation:

“I am not horrified by the program,” he said. “What I am horrified by is that we didn’t know about it and that the Congress took a pass on it. All these congressmen scurrying about of the limelight pretending they didn’t hear anything about it. They had plenty of chances to hear about it.”

Clinton would likely agree wholeheartedly on the transparency, but I doubt any establishment Democrat would walk away from these programs. Dean advising Obama to speak to the public about the spying is understandable, but he’d have to be a lot more coherent than he’s been so far.

Let’s say for a second Hillary Clinton doesn’t run, which I think is a very small percentage, believing she will be seduced by the call to give the presidency another shot. If she doesn’t run, I agree with Howard Dean, New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand should explore her options. There will be others, too, men, of course, but I’m more interested in the possible female candidates.

Hillary Clinton won’t be given a walk to the nomination, if she jumps in. She deserves to be scrutinized and there’s no doubt she will be.

The following was in the article, notice that Hambey says the presidential race was in 2004. Duh, it was in 2002. I guess his proof reader is an unpaid intern.

Howard Dean, the former Vermont governor who electrified anti-war liberals during the 2004 presidential race, said Thursday he would consider another run for the White House – a statement that will surely be met with mixed reaction in the Democratic Party. – Peter Hambey

Another old white guy? After the most brilliantest and blackest president in history, do we really expect the democratic party base to go back to old white people? Especially a fat, ugly and old white woman, or an old white nutcase?

Although “Good news” is usually sarcastic in Hot Air posts, this IS good news! Yowie Kazowie Howie would pull far-left voters away from Hillary, who would have trouble attracting the “national-security center” after bungling Benghazi. Give him a Vermont Teddy Bear and some Green Mountain Coffee for a big caffeine fix, and unleash the YEEEEAAARRRGGGHHH!!!

A little different “triangulation” then that pulled off by that “other” Clinton in 1992, this could be more like the Ralph Nader triangulation of Al Gorezeera in 2000…

“I am not driven by my own ambition,” Dean told CNN in an interview at the Netroots Nation conference, an annual gathering of left-leaning political activists. “What I am driven by is pushing the country in a direction that it desperately needs to be pushed; pushing other politicians who aren’t quite as frank as I am who need to be more candid with the American people about what needs to happen.

Of course, he didn’t specify exactly what direction that is. But considering who we’re talking about, and where he said it;

at the Netroots Nation conference, an annual gathering of left-leaning political activists.

I don’t think it takes an Einstein to figure out that he’s not talking about anything Ronald Reagan would have had in in his platform.